


Turns of Lavender

by firefright



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Intersex Omegas, M/M, Marriage of Convenience, Misunderstandings, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-09 16:48:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16453691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefright/pseuds/firefright
Summary: When Jason learns that his childhood friend, Dick, is in a secret relationship with another alpha, he agrees to play the part of his mate to stop any suspicion from the less than accepting society they live in from falling upon them. But as time goes on, what began as a perfectly functional arrangement slowly starts to become more… complicated.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic for the 2018 SladeRobin Week, playing off the 'Arranged Marriage' prompt, but bending it towards the interpretation of being an arrangement between the participating individuals, rather than otherwise.
> 
> I had hoped to have this all done as a big on-shot for today, but doing so made me feel like I was rushing the story, and this one my brain insists should be told slowly. Hopefully, that means a more satisfying reading experience for you all in the end XD
> 
> Enjoy!

Jason steps out of the cab in front of his new home with a single bag containing all his worldly possessions in one hand, butterflies in his stomach, and the question running through his mind one last time on whether he really is prepared to do this.

All the arrangements have already been made, the boundaries set out. Every minor detail agreed upon — at least those they’ve been able to see as necessary so far. So long as his agreement remains in place, the only thing that’s left for them to do is go through with the final stages of their pantomime, and (hopefully) convince the rest of the world that the show they’re about to put on for them is true.

None of which should be a big deal to him, since out of all the parties involved, Jason is the least at risk of suffering a painful fallout if it doesn’t work out. But oh, it still does feel that way. It feels like a very big deal indeed.

“You okay there, Jason?” Dick asks him, from where he’s stood nearby on the sidewalk after paying the driver, looking effortlessly comfortable in a pastel blue shirt and tailored grey slacks. The weather is still warm enough that he hasn’t bothered wearing a jacket today, and even has his sleeves rolled up to his elbows to expose his lightly tanned forearms.

Evidently, some of his nerves must be getting communicated through the air between them. Jason scrambles to try and offer an excuse in response that’s anything but the truth.

“Fine,” he manages eventually, looking up at the house that is about to become his new home — possibly for the rest of his life. “It’s just… smaller than I expected.”

At that, Dick laughs, coming over to take his arm and lead him through the gate and up the path beyond it. “Slade’s done pretty well for a retired military man, true, but he’s no millionaire, Jay. We’re happy with something modest.”

Modest… that’s certainly one word for it. Despite what he just said (at least compared to the places Jason grew up in), this house is a palace. Big enough for a family of five to live in all with their own separate rooms, and containing an inside bathroom rather than shared outside latrine, kitchen and real garden with a white picket fence surrounding it. Rose bushes decorate the pathway they’re walking through, thick with immaculately kept flowers, and everything is just so… so…

_Clean_.

He feels like an imposter walking in here, which is funny, considering that he and Dick both come from near enough the same background. Both orphans. Both raised in the same orphanage together, before age and changing bodies caused them to be separated by the nuns who ran it. Alphas and betas went to the monk supervised institution on the other side of the city after reaching adolescence, while omegas stayed under the care of their own until they reached the age of eighteen or were otherwise… _removed_.

Rumours of those other methods of removal (the prettiest omegas being snatched by pimps for illegal brothels or pushed into arranged bonds with alphas for their own good by the nuns), had sent Jason skittering away from the orphanage a few months shy of his own eighteenth birthday, and for good reason. He didn’t want to be mated to someone he didn’t know. Didn’t want to be forced into sex work, or to take holy vows as the only way to avoid it.

The last thing he’d expected, though, after taking shelter in a slightly dingy diner one windy evening and wondering how the hell he was going to survive the next month alone with his heat incoming, was to run into Dick again. Especially not Dick well fed and dressed in what appeared to be an expensively tailored suit.

As it turned out, after making his own exodus from institutionalized care, Dick had fallen into a heap of good fortune — though the exact details of how and why Jason hadn’t learned until their second meeting. Which was also about the time Dick had blown his mind by making him a proposal that opened up the possibility for Jason to have everything he’d ever dreamed of and more.

Freedom, a comfortable home, and no expectations to adhere to the strict social roles that had controlled every second of his life before then.

It had seemed like a dream come true, with only one small caveat.

“And you told me you hadn’t changed,” Jason snorts, back in the present as Dick skips up the steps of the front porch ahead of him to open up the front door, “The circus boy I knew never would have called a house like this ‘modest’.”

Lightly meant as it is, the reminder nonetheless causes a light blush to suffuse Dick’s cheeks, “All right,” he admits, “Maybe I _have_ gotten a little used to the finer things in life, but you will, too, Jay. This is your home now, as well as Slade’s and mine.”

“Yeah,” Jason agrees steadily, “Only my name’s not on the lease.”

Dick stops, one hand still on the door as soon as he says that. “You know that doesn’t matter, Jay. We’d never kick you out, not for anything. So long as you’re still okay with doing this.” He hesitates briefly, “... you are, aren’t you?”

Jason wants to knock the naked concern on his face off with a mop.

“Of course I am,” he replies sharply, “I’m here aren’t I?”

It doesn’t feel like enough to him, however Dick still smiles before reaching out to take his bag and lead the way inside.

“Come on, Jay,” he says, “Let me give you the grand tour.”

 

* * *

 

His room is at the opposite side of the house from Dick and Slade’s. It’s larger than any space he’s ever lived in before in his life, and Dick is evidently pleased by his reaction to what by many people’s standards would be something exceedingly simple and plain. There’s a dresser, a double bed with curtains he can draw around it to satisfy the occasional omega desire for complete seclusion if he wants, as well as a desk and chair. More importantly, there’s a lock on the door, which Dick helpfully demonstrates the working of before leaving him to get settled.

“I know how important privacy is to you,” he says, and Jason is exceedingly grateful for it.

He unpacks his bag first, sorting out what goes where in each drawer. By the time he’s done, he’s barely filled a tenth of the dresser, and Jason can’t quite help the feeling of ‘not-belonging’ starting to creep up on him again.

_Stop it_ , he tells himself. It’s just new, that’s all. A few weeks of living here and it’ll soon feel like home, he’s sure, and there’s always time for him to get more possessions if he wants them.

Bracing himself, Jason then turns back to pull out the one thing he most certainly won’t be putting away today from the bag.

White fabric, soft and buttery from previous use. Slade had offered him the money to get a gown that was entirely new, but Jason had shaken his head and refused it. What they’re going to do today is just a performance, and there was no sense wasting good money on a sham. Once it’s done, this outfit will be going in the trash, and that’s that.

He takes the time to wash his face and comb his hair into something like what might be considered a fashionable style these days before putting it on. One of the sleeves is frayed, and despite himself Jason curses a little for not noticing it sooner.

It’s not like Dick will care. Slade neither. But still…

He supposes any omega should be allowed to have some measure of pride in themselves on their bonding day, even when it’s fake.

“Jay?” Dick’s is muffled by the door when he addresses him. “Are you ready?”

Jason looks up sharply, and for a moment doesn’t respond. This is his last chance to back out if he wants to, but the moment he thinks that, he knows he won’t be doing anything of the sort.

He can have a future here. One where he can read and study, where he can be himself with none of the judgement he’d get from the outside world. No struggling to keep a job by employers who’d drop him the first time he had a heat after being hired, or refuse to let him progress any further in a career because they expected him to be claimed by some alpha to squeeze out child after child sooner rather than later.

It’s the best chance he could have ever asked for, offered by someone Jason trusts to the ends of the earth and back, and even if he’s not so sure of Slade yet, there’s really no way he could ever bring himself to turn the opportunity down. This way, both he and Dick can be happy, and all Jason has to do is this one small thing.

“I’m ready,” he calls, picking up the veil as the last piece of the outfit, and when Jason opens the door he blinks at how Dick actually looks startled for a moment.

“Wow, Jay, you look—”

“Ready to get this over with?”

Dick blinks at him, thrown off-course by the interruption. “Uh, yeah,” he says, nodding and offering Jason his arm, “Yeah, of course. C’mon, the priest’s waiting.”

Jason takes it, and off they go.

 

* * *

 

The ceremony is small, and brief, held in Slade’s expansive back garden. Aside from three of them, the only other people attending are the priest and two other witnesses. Judging by how distantly Dick acts towards those two men, another alpha and a beta, Jason suspects they may have been hired specifically for the task, rather than asked as friends.

He and Dick say the words they’re meant to say, hold hands the way they’re meant to, and at the crucial moment manage a mostly natural looking kiss. It’s most bizarre part of the whole thing, kissing a friend, and Jason is grateful at least that the fashion for the public witnessing of a mating mark being made died out with the Victorian era.

They most certainly will not be doing it later either, Dick had agreed to that right away in the negotiations. Jason will wear high collars and scarves as necessary to disguise the fact he doesn’t have one going forward, and in the event someone does notice it missing, imply that perhaps Dick left the imprint of his teeth somewhere else instead.

All in all, the whole thing takes less than an hour, and after the priest and witnesses are gone, he and Dick retreat back to the house’s kitchen with Slade for a well deserved drink and dinner.

“Thank God that’s done with,” Slade says. as soon as they’re in the door, and not wasting a moment as he moves to a dark wooden cabinet at the end of the kitchen. From inside it, he extracts a heavy bottle of dark red wine, alongside three glasses. “Any longer and I would have taken the damn book to read the words myself.”

Jason, meanwhile, takes a seat at the table while his newly bonded ‘mate’ laughs at the remark.

“Right?” Dick says, “I was sweating so hard the entire time, I swear that priest kept staring at me like he knew everything we were up to.”

Slade snorts, “I highly doubt that. The man’s an idiot, it’s the entire reason I hired him.”

“Priests just look at everyone like that, Dickie,” Jason says, feeling a touch uncomfortable amidst the natural banter between them as he looks down at the kitchen table. “The nuns used to do the same thing, remember?”

“Urgh, don’t remind me of the nuns right now,” Dick laments, before grinning as Slade hands him a glass of wine first, “Everytime I think about them, I swear I can still feel the bruises on the back of my thighs.”

“The back of your thighs?” Slade asks with an odd sort of interest. He sets a glass down in front of Jason next, then steps back to where Dick’s standing and slips his arm around the younger alpha’s waist.

“Mmhm, it was their go to method of punishment when you did something wrong.” Dick nods, leaning into him comfortably. “They used to keep rulers tucked into their belts, and as soon as they caught one of us misbehaving they’d just, whack! You’d be lucky if you could sit down for the rest of the day after that.”

Jason snorts at the memory, while Slade just chuckles darkly. “Maybe I should remember that,” he says to Dick, “For the next you misbehave around me.”

There’s a heavy pause, then Jason blinks as the skin Dick’s face suddenly goes from its normal gently tan shade to a deep beet red. His eyes dart over towards Jason, and this time his laugh is softer and more self-conscious.

“Shut up, Slade,” he mutters, and Slade grins the kind of grin that screams licentious.

_Oh,_ Jason thinks, his brain catching up finally. _Oh_. His own cheeks feel warmer now, too, and he coughs slightly as he awkwardly looks away from the pair, not knowing how to cope with being in the same room as two people who are blatantly flirting with each other. Especially two alphas, which — as much as Jason came into this specifically knowing about and because of their relationship — is still going to take some getting used to.

“Hard to, when you’re giving me such excellent ideas,” he hears Slade purr deeply, “But of course, if that’s what you want. We should probably get on with having dinner before it gets too late.”

Yes, dinner. A good plan. Jason raises his head at the prospect of food and cooking, a subject he’s much more familiar with. “I can help with that, if you want me to.”

He feels the focus of Slade’s eye (singular, because its partner was lost back in the war) land on him as he says it. Cool consideration gleams in its icy blue depths for a moment before Slade nods, “Of course, if you want to. Dick’s useless in the kitchen, as I’m sure you know. Though your dress—”

“It’s nothing special, I just bought it out of a thrift store,” he says, leaving his glass of wine where it is, untouched, as he stands up, “Not like I’m ever going to wear it again either; I don’t mind.”

“Come on then.”

They end up making something simple. Sausages and baked potatoes with a few greens on the side. Jason cuts vegetables as directed, glad to have something to do with his hands even briefly, and listens as mostly Dick talks and Slade responds with short observations and acknowledgements. Jason, on the other hand, stays quiet, both throughout the cooking process and eating the meal once it’s made. It’s the nicest thing he’s eaten a long time, simple as it is, and the wine…

Well, he’s certainly never had _wine_ this nice before.

Once they’re finished and the plates have been rinsed and left to soak in the sink, Dick excuses himself from the table briefly, only to come back from some secret spot holding a small round cake in his hands.

“I thought, you know, even if this isn’t real, we should still never turn down an excuse for cake,” he smiles as he puts it down in front of Jason, covered in mint coloured frosting and delicate pink flowers, “Green’s still your favourite colour, right?”

Jason nods, surprised and a little touched that Dick remembers that. “Yeah, it is.”

He beams at him, then nods down at the cake. “It’s chocolate, too. I figured you deserve the best for, y’know…” Dick looks at Slade for a moment, who nods slightly, then back at Jason, “It means a lot to me — I mean us, that you’re doing this, Jason. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to say thank you enough.”

Discomfort bubbles back up inside Jason. The kind that’s associated with embarrassment, because in truth he doesn’t really feel like he deserves all the praise he’s being given. Yes, he’s shielding Dick and Slade from the scrutiny of the outside world by standing beside his friend as a shining beacon of heteronormativity, but it’s not like he’s doing it for purely selfless reasons either. He gets as much out of this as they do.

“You don’t need to, Dick.” he says, fiddling with the frayed sleeve of his dress again. “Just once is fine. I’ve got a lot to thank you both for in this, too, letting me stay here almost for free and all.”

“Hm,” Slade tilts his head at him, “Is that how you see it?”

“No!” he answers quickly, “I mean, that’s a part of it, yes. But there’s more…” Jason looks between them helplessly, “Look, you guys aren’t normal alphas, and I’m not a normal omega either. What we’re doing… it lets all of us be who we want to be. Or be with who we want to be, I guess.” His cheeks heat up again for a moment. “That’s all that matters.”

The room is quiet in the wake of what he just said, then Slade’s lips slide into a smirk, “Inelegantly put, but true enough, I suppose. Dick?”

Dick is giving Jason the same kind of look now as the one that allowed him to break through his defensive walls back when they were kids. Warm, admiring and honest. These days, Jason can’t imagine how he would have ever survived without him as his friend back then, and he’s glad that even now, after years of separation, Dick can still look at him that way.

“Yeah,” he smiles, then blinks when Slade nods his head down at the cake, “Oh! Right, let me just grab a knife…”

Like the dinner and the wine, the cake is delicious. Jason eats two whole slices of it to himself, largely thanks to Dick’s encouragement, and after they’ve finished retreats back to his new bedroom to recover.

The sheets of the bed smell clean and new under him, and the cotton is soft against his skin as he strips off his dress and lies down in just his underwear. Jason looks up at the ceiling, feeling completely safe, full and content for maybe the first time in his life that he can remember, and after a moment actually finds himself cautiously smiling.

This really could work after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly late update, my excuse is for which I am trying hard to do NaNo this year and only moderately succeeding XD Hope you guys enjoy getting to read more of this AU!

Over the course of the next week, Jason slowly settles into, and starts to believe in, his new home.

It’s still strange being in a house so large, especially one that’s not overcrowded and bustling with people. One so big that, if he was determined about it, it would be easy for Jason to go a full day through without seeing Dick and Slade, or anyone else for that matter, seeing as how they’re often gone from the house during the daylight hours to their separate jobs.

Slade, though officially retired from the military, has other business interests and investments that need attending to. Boring stuff most of the time, Dick had told Jason wryly, but also necessary. And Dick himself…

Dick is a newly graduated police officer, which had shocked Jason to his core about as much as hearing that he was living romantically with another alpha did.

“I know you don’t trust police, Jason,” he’d said, smiling a touch sadly at his reaction, “But I really do think I can do good and help people by becoming one. At the very least, I want to give it a try.”

That was just Dick, he supposed. Idealistic to a fault. Jason only hopes that he turns out to be right about that in the end, and that his dream of a life dedicated to law and justice doesn’t end up crashing down around him, especially considering one of the laws he might be called on to enforce at some point during his career is the same one that could see him and Slade arrested and imprisoned for what they are to each other, too.

Come to think of it, he’s almost certain the idiot believes he can change things from the inside, and when Dick sets his mind on something there’s very little anyone can do to change it. Jason knows that from experience.

He’s allowed to move about the house as he wants to. Only Slade and Dick’s rooms (as well as their room, singular) are out of bounds. Jason makes himself most familiar with the kitchen and small library Slade has inside his office, as well as the garden outside — feeling more comfortable in those spaces than any others. Settling into a house that so solidly smells of alpha is intimidating at first, and so he prefers to do it a little at a time, letting his own scent slowly find its place alongside theirs. Dick’s at least is warm and familiar — a sweet, sharp tanginess.

Slade’s on the other hand…

Slade has a scent like no other alpha he’s ever met. So heavy, that being near him at the start makes Jason’s lungs feel like they’re slowly being compressed. There’s something else to it, too; peppery, thick with a metallic aftertaste. He can’t draw any immediate comparisons the way he can with Dick’s scent, though — in all the hours of leisure he now has to spare — Jason certainly gives it a try.

Otherwise, he fills his time by reading through Slade’s moderate collection of books at first. Then, when even six to eight hours of the pure joy of reading (and occasional dash of television on the black and white screen in the living room) can’t sustain him entirely any longer, by taking care of things around the house.

Slade hires a cleaner to come in twice a week and take of most of what needs to be done, which, despite the size of their residence, Jason can’t fully understand. There’s nothing here that the three of them couldn’t take care of between themselves with a little effort, but maybe it’s just an effect of having money, he supposes. It gives you the luxury of passing off menial work like that to someone else.

He dusts where he can;,does the laundry — after figuring out how the machine in the house’s utility room actually works — and hangs it out to dry in the garden seeing as how the weather’s still good. Then he returns to the kitchen and starts scrubbing down the counters and floors, taking satisfaction in the simple, easily managed task.

And soon enough, that too becomes habit.

“What are you doing?” Slade asks, the first time he catches Jason at it. He’s home earlier than he expected, right about when Jason is poking through the cupboards and fridge-freezer (which is larger, and far fancier than any he’s seen before) for ideas on what to make for dinner.

“Housework,” he answers carefully, with a barely restrained ‘ _What’s it look like?_ ’ held back behind his teeth. He and Slade are still figuring their way around each other, and Jason is wary of the risk of pissing him off. “Figured I should try and do a bit more to earn my keep while I’m staying here than just wear Dick’s scent on me.”

Slade tilts his head slightly, “I hire a maid to do that.”

“I know, but they only come in twice a week while you’re at work.” Jason points out, _not_ arguing. “That’s not enough to keep a big house like this one clean. Plus, y’know, there’s the laundry and the cooking…”

Slade doesn’t respond to him immediately, and after an uncomfortable moment of silence between them Jason huffs, folding his arms across his chest and looking away. “I only meant to help. I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“You don’t need to stop,” Slade says at length, “I just want you to understand that it’s not expected of you. Nor is it necessary for you to keep your place here going forward either.”

Jason tries not to fidget, self-consciously pulling at a patch of dry skin on his thumb with a fingernail. “I know that. I just don’t like to sit idle, that’s all.”

“Hm,” This time Slade sounds slightly amused, “I was wondering how long it would take for you to get bored.” And when Jason looks back up at him, casually waves a hand, “Dick made it clear you’re not comfortable taking what you might see as ‘handouts’, despite the fact you already earned this life as part of our bargain.”

“Did he.” Jason frowns, trying to decide if Dick deserves a punch for that or not. Knowing he’s being talked about by anyone (even in a positive light) is another thing on the the long list of what makes him feel uncomfortable. “What else did he say?”

“Enough,” Slade says, lips curling in a slight smirk now. “My point is, if you want to cook and clean, that’s your prerogative. I’m happy to help find you other distractions if you need them, though.”

Easing a little, though not entirely, Jason turns back to the fridge and starts pulling out ingredients. “Like what?” he cautiously asks.

“Dick mentioned you enjoy academics. There are courses open to omegas at the local college if you’d like to attend, or I can order study materials for you here at home.”

Jason sucks on his teeth. “I don’t have the money for that.”

“Well, I wasn’t suggesting you pay for it yourself.” He can feel Slade’s eyes on the back of his neck suddenly, like the laser beams shot by the aliens in Dick’s favourite comic book. “We discussed you having an allowance to spend before; this could be part of it.”

“Paying for me to go to college is a bit more expensive than an ‘allowance’.” Jason points out, stopping what he’s doing then to look back at him. “And as you just pointed out, I don’t like handouts.”

“Hm.” Slade doesn’t respond to that for a moment. “Well, it’s something for you to consider anyway. Whether you like it or not, it is a genuine offer on my part.”

“Sure,” Jason says, not believing him for a hot minute. What alphas say and what they mean are always two different things, and he knows for a fact that Slade’s interest him only runs as far as keeping Dick happy. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

He gets through chopping some vegetables for the stew he’s planning to make before Slade sees fit to address him again.

“We do need to discuss your finances, however. Especially in regards to the things you need.”

“The things I need?” Now Jason puts down the knife and turns back to look at him, eyeing Slade as if he’s a dog ready to bite.

Slade, now sat at the table, meets his gaze evenly. “Yes; clothes, toiletries and such.” he smirks slightly again, “Things you may not necessarily feel comfortable with either Dick or myself purchasing for you.”

Jason’s cheeks warm at the implication. “I have clothes. And besides, I thought that was the point of the allowance.”

“I meant the allowance for you to spend on things you want. Things you _need_ are entirely different.” Slade raises the eyebrow above his eyepatch, which is still an odd sight to see for Jason. Hell, seeing the eyepatch alone at times is still taking some getting used to. It always threatens to send thoughts of _Treasure Island_ and _Peter Pan_ running through his head, which is definitely not something he thinks his host would appreciate.

And all right, he supposes he can acknowledge that Slade has a point about that. Needs and wants are two entirely different things, yet still…

Jason shakes his head. “You’re already giving me enough,” he says, “Letting me stay here, putting a roof over my head and giving me a room of my own. That’s all I really need.”

“Which would be fine,” Slade agrees, “Except that sometimes your needs are also our needs as well.” he leans forward slightly across the table. “You’re supposed to be Dick’s _mate_ , Jason, and Dick is currently a newly graduated police officer with a decent wage. Which means that for us to pull this deception off completely, the quality of your own possessions should mirror his. You can’t keep wearing the same three outfits and old boots indefinitely. Consider what the neighbours would think if they saw you.”

Jason bristles at first, before realising that yes, actually, Slade is right. He may not be ashamed of where he came from, or the fact that all the clothes he currently owns are second-hand, but when you put him next to Dick in all his newly polished glory there’s no denying that Jason looks… well, _shabby_ , in comparison. And certainly not like he’s Dick’s mate.

Doesn’t mean he has to like it, though.

“Fine, I guess you do have a point with that.” Jason grinds out. And also about the fact that there are certain necessities he’s going to need as an omega in the future that he doesn’t want them buying for him, but he’s certainly not going to voice that part out loud.

“I know I do.” Slade responds, with a smug air that instantly gets Jason’s hackles up. But then he goes on, still talking sense, in a way that Jason infuriatingly finds it difficult to find an argument against. “It’s more than just saying the words and showing up on Dick’s arm when there’s an event you need to be seen at, kid. You have to look the part even when you think no one is watching you. Even when the only other people who might see you for days at a time are the mailman and the maid. Whether you like it or not, people gossip. And the house where an alpha has a mate who always looks like he’s several stations below him is bound to raise questions amongst the community eventually.”

Jason grits his teeth, almost on the verge of rethinking this entire situation, except they’ve already passed the point of no return. “I said I _get_ it. New clothes are a necessity, fine.”

“Good. Then you’ll have no problem with me giving you the money to go shopping this weekend.” Slade says, leaning back comfortably in his seat now that he’s certain he’s won. “You can take a cab, or get Dick to drive you. That might be easier, in fact.”

He doesn’t care too much for pretending not to be pissed off anymore. Jason glares openly at the alpha, “Or maybe I’ll take the bus. I’m a grown man, I don’t need anyone to holding my hand while I go shopping, Slade.”

“I wasn’t suggesting he hold your hand,” Slade hits back, unperturbed, “Though that wouldn’t hurt, of course. I just meant that, practically, you’re going to need to buy a lot of outfits. An extra pair of hands to carry bags would help.”

“You want me to use Dick as a packhorse?” This time. Jason’s the one raising an eyebrow.

“What I _want_ is for all of us to work together to make this succeed.” Slade expression suddenly turns sharper, and more serious. “My goal here is to protect Dick, Jason. Nothing more and nothing less. It’s the only reason I agreed to going through with this farce in the first place, so if I have to tread on your toes sometimes to keep anyone from suspecting what’s really going on, I will. You can hate me for it if you want, but I’m not going to stop.”

Jason grits his teeth for a moment, then slowly exhales between them. “I’m not… I’m not doing this for entirely selfish reasons, you know. He’s my best friend, I don’t want him to get hurt either.”

“Then you understand where I’m coming from.”

“I do! But money is…” Jason forces himself to breath again. “Fine! I’ll go shopping for new things. With Dick if he wants to come with me. Whatever it takes to make this work.”

Slade doesn’t say thank you, but there is approval in the way he nods at him, and against his will Jason feels something ease a little in the pit of his stomach at the sight of it. Probably thanks to the calmer scent Slade is now putting out.

Goddamn biology.

Turning back around, Jason forces himself to get on with the cooking. It’s better he be done talking with Slade right now, otherwise he may end up saying something they’d all regret. But at least now he’s got a better measure of the pack he’s got involved with. A better measure of the man Slade is.

The less they have to say to each from now on, the more smooth things will be.

 

* * *

 

“I need to say something to you about Slade that you’re probably not going to like.”

Dick looks over at Jason from the rack of shirts he’s inspecting, eyebrows raised and a faint smile on his lips. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Jason says, wrinkling his nose at a nearby pile of sweaters. It’s Saturday, and he’s been brooding over the conversation he had with Slade in the kitchen for two days now, even as he willingly did what he’d been asked to do and requested Dick take him shopping. “He’s kind of a dick.”

Dick snorts, less outraged than amused — much to Jason’s surprise. “All right,” he asks, “What did he do now?”

Jason wavers a little before answering. He’s started this conversation, no way he can back out of it now. But he does take the care to move a little closer to Dick to minimise their chances of being overheard first. “Tried to throw money at me and more or less called me an idiot for not considering every detail of pulling this off before I agreed to it.” he grumbles.

“Whoa, what? Did he actually say that?” Dick responds, now looking more serious. “Because if he did—”

“No!” Jason says hurriedly, before Dick can get any further, “Not exactly, it was just…” he runs his fingers back through his hair, “It was implied. Sort of. Like because I wasn’t comfortable just being handed money I was being stupid. Like it shouldn’t be any big deal to just let him pay my way on anything I wanted. I’m not some charity case, Dick, and sure, once he pointed it out to me, I understood that me having nice clothes to match yours is necessary, but the other stuff—”

“Hey, hey,” Dick’s hand is suddenly on his elbow, “Easy, Jay. Deep breath, okay? Come over here and let’s start at the beginning; I want you to talk me through everything that happened.”

Jason doesn’t fight the pull as Dick pulls him to one of the quieter areas of the department store in which they’ve found themselves. A store with price points on all its items far above anything Jason ever would have considered before (though apparently not above the budget Slade has given them to work with). Once there, he lets Dick pull him against his side and tuck Jason’s head in against his shoulder, so that he can — quietly and without suspicion — tell him step by step the conversation he had with Slade.

At the end of it, Dick looks exasperated, and he sighs heavily before speaking. “I’m sorry, Jay. Slade isn’t very tactful at times, and you’re right, he can be kind of a dick—” Here Dick’s lips twitch slightly. “—even when he has good intentions. I’ll talk to him about it when we get home; I’m sure he didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Jason says, eyes sliding away from Dick to the rest of the store. “Like I said, I know he had a good point. I just… I guess I just wanted to know if it was… you know, anything personal that he talked to me that way.”

“Personal?” Dick leans his head forward, enough that Jason can catch the ends of his hair falling over his vision. “Oh, Jay, no. No, of course it wasn’t. Slade _likes_ you, he told me so. He would never agreed to our plan if he didn’t.”

Wait, what?

“He likes me, really?” Jason asks, wary and not totally believing.

“ _Yes_. He’s just like I said, overly blunt sometimes. Doesn’t always consider how his way of phrasing things can come across to other people. I’d say it’s an effect of him having been in the military most of his life, but to be honest I think he’s just always been like that.” Dick smiles, squeezing him closer. “Back when we first met, I had more than a few arguments with him before I learned to understand what he really meant by his actions.”

Jason snorts at that, “You make it sound like he has his own language.”

“He kind of does, though!” Dick chuckles, then grins wider, “Just like some other people I know. Take my word for it, Jay, once you get to know him a bit better, you’ll see what I mean.”

Despite glaring at the not-very-subtle reference to himself, Jason still sighs and nods,. He doesn’t want to rock the boat too much, no matter how much doubt he still feels. “Fine. All right.”

Dick’s lips touch his forehead, and his scent — which has definitely been doing good things for Jason this entire conversation — swells all the warmer. “Good. Now, come on, we still have to finish buying you pretty things.”

“Dick, please,” Jason groans at the reminder of why they’re here, “Don’t go overboard.”

“If you wanted that, little wing, you definitely shouldn’t have come shopping with me.”

They make their way around the rest of the store, and true to his word, Dick is far more enthusiastic about finding him new clothes than Jason is, and he can’t help but wonder if that was actually another level to Slade’s plan all along. That by inviting Dick to go along with him, he could be sure that Jason would actually come back with everything he needs, rather than just a few plain items off the sale rack.

In the end, he emerges with a host of new shirts, pants, and even a long, tunic-style dress for special occasions, plus a winter coat and other outerwear for various different types of weather. He refuses jewellery full stop, but does accept a sturdy pair of boots and shoes, as well as some scarves and ribbons to keep his neck covered and hide his lack of mating bite. Afterwards, they head to a nearby drug store, where Dick waits politely outside while Jason buys what he needs ready for when his heat is due to strike next month.

It’s only when they have everything placed together in the trunk of Slade’s car that it really hits him how much they’ve bought. How different his situation is now to what it once was.

And, dare Jason say it, that knowledge actually feels a little good. Certainly, it’s a feeling that is bolstered when they get home and Slade makes no mention or complaint against how much money they’ve spent. He actually nods approvingly, and helps carry the bags up to Jason’s room before Jason even has a chance to tell him he doesn’t need the help.

The unpacking, at least, he gets to do all by himself, and seeing the drawers of the dresser full finally helps make the room feel a little bit more homely than before. After a moment’s hesitation, Jason strips off his worn, faded old clothes in favour of putting on one of the new outfits. Just one of the simpler shirts and a loose pair of pants that are the fashion for male omegas at the moment, but Dick still whistles lightly at him for it when he comes back downstairs.

“Looking good, Jay,” he grins.

“Shut up, Dick,” Jason rolls his eyes, but even he has to admit that he actually does look sort of good in this outfit the first time he catches a glimpse of himself wearing it in a mirror. The way the shirt and pants hang off his body is a result of how they’re _supposed_ to look, rather than just the result of an ill fit, and makes him not feel so large and awkward the way he normally does compared to other omegas.

Slade on the other hand, just smiles smugly at the reaction. And that? That Jason is definitely not going to acknowledge at all.

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr!](https://firefrightfic.tumblr.com/)


End file.
